Fly6 by Cycliq: tail light / video camera combo

I’ve had this cool device for more than a year, so I guess I’d better write something about how cool it is. Usually when you combine one thing with another you get the worst of both worlds. Like when you combine a car with an airplane, you get a slow, googy car and a heavy and slow airplane. By contrast, the Fly6 is a great rear tail light blinky, and a great video camera.

The light function has various light levels and patterns, including a bright, blinking, big red LED, and other smaller LEDs in moving patterns. When you turn the light on, and video camera is automatically on. It has a 6 hour run time on video memory, then it begins overwriting what is on the card, so you never have to download the video if you don’t want. It is rechargable, and runs for about 5 or 6 hours, more if you put the LEDs at lower light intensities. The video quality is excellent. It sells for $169, and I see that its available at REI. Their website at www.cycliq.com has more information on their products, which now includes the Fly12, a front facing video camera combined with a 400 lumen head light.

Why do you need a video camera when riding your bike? To get no hassle video footage of your ride, in case you want to make a ride video of scenery and friends. Another reason is to have a video record of hostile or homicidal drivers. I’ve had beer cans thrown at me from passing cars, and other cyclists have had worse incidents. Those incidents are usually not resolved, because you don’t have time to get a license number, and its just your word against theirs. A video changes the game. An example was when a cyclist was attacked by a motorist, who then called the police on the cyclist. When the cops saw the video, they arrested the motorist for battery. The Cycliq site has a bunch of videos taken by their customers which are very interesting. I feel naked without the Fly6 watching my back, and I’m going to get the Fly12 also.